Useful books

[majorp]

I have noticed the in-game description of books ("Eventually, a source of knowledge") and was wondering.. Does that mean you have current plans on making books into useful sources of knowledge? I would love to be able to find books about e.g. the local fauna, and be able to read them to gain useful knowledge! Reading should take a certain amount of time while giving you some slight advantage. For example, after reading a chapter about wolves you would know more about their behavior, which could make it slightly less likely for them to detect you or make you slightly more effective in fending off an attack. Reading about the local flora could give you pictures of the plants, descriptions of their use, and maybe hints on where to look for them (not exact locations, but hints like "along riverbanks", "in densely forested areas", "at high elevations" etc..). I'm fairly new to the game, and when I first set out to look for the saplings I had no idea of what to look for. From the pictures in the crafting descriptions they look like small twigs that might be found on the ground. I spent days searching for them and probably walked past them many times before I eventually had to give in and look them up on the forum. Also had no idea about the harvestable cat tails until about 60 days into my current run!

[a gomerpile]

I too would like for books to be readable, when I have a drawer full of meat and a floor covered in fresh guts, hides, and saplings. The wind outside is howling shaking the roof vents. I would like to build a nice cozy fire and sit in a chair and burn a few hours reading because I for dang sure ain't going outside.

[n00bas]

+1 for readable books

Either ingame knowledge or real life, being able to read would certainly be nice. Even if you don't really gain anything (skill) it is still better than going to sleep because you really can't do anything else useful.

[harobed1156]

I too would like for books to be readable, when I have a drawer full of meat and a floor covered in fresh guts, hides, and saplings. The wind outside is howling shaking the roof vents. I would like to build a nice cozy fire and sit in a chair and burn a few hours reading because I for dang sure ain't going outside.

My thoughts exactly.

[madnad]

As an avid reader, I still find it difficult to burn books. To be able to read them would be good.

[CountZero]

ohh I like this idea...maybe add a mechanic regarding mental health....reading would help with that and raise moral...moral would be an all over bonus for the next day slowing down your fatigue and just all over more cheerfull

[Maninpants]

+1 for readable books & magazines that give us otherwise unknown information & general info.

This work for discovering certain recipes (food & craftables) too? I'd like that

maybe add a mechanic regarding mental health....reading would help with that and raise moral...moral would be an all over bonus for the next day slowing down your fatigue and just all over more cheerfull

+1

I think this could become another major stat. A variety of food/dishes in your diet that could affect it. If I ate 1 type of fish all day every day, it would become dull and boring (think Tom Hanks Castaway... he didn't look too enthusiastic at the end!) - a varied diet, both for the body AND mind should impact on everything we do whether it's -

* Spotting extra items as we are fully awake, aware and informed.

* We would be more efficient when using our equipment therefore reducing ware and tare (imagine being able to hit exactly the same spot when using the axe), and

* Our fatigue would also be kept at bay like GentlemanLoser suggests because everything links onto it & there are plenty more reasons and examples.

The idea has sort of already been impleneted when using the bow hasn't it? If not fully healthy our aim goes off etc so the idea is somewhere out there

25% - 75% of the Mental Health/State of Mind stat could be known as Surviving

75% - 100% could be Thriving

and 25% to zero is known as DYING!

Back on topic - yes to books :lol:

[ethomas21]

I know that one of the guiding principles for the Hinterland team in developing TLD has been to provide opportunities for players to make important decisions about their survival. If books were readable, the player would have to choose between reading a book and using it to build a fire. Although there would obviously be some tuning there since you could just read it first and then burn it, maybe some books have better info that you could come back to reference again and again, like complex charts or even maps or an atlas. I'm not likely to burn my only map for a few extra firestarting % points, but if its the difference between life or death huddled in a cave freezing to death with only 1 match left, then goodbye map hello fire.

I'm more on the side of books providing knowledge to the player more than the protagonist, meaning that while new crafting recipes would be cool (and I would love to have more of them for later in the game) I think the more 'immersive' way would be to provide info as in the OP like animal behavior, where to find certain plants, hints about consuming hot beverages on cold days to ward off the effects of low temperatures, stuff that gives the player information about how to use the mechanics of the game to their advantage and better strategize their survival. Didn't know that its easier to sneak around a wolf from downwind than upwind? This book just saved you a potentially lethal encounter. Didn't know that Cedar and Reclaimed Wood have the highest burn time vs weight ratio AND add the most heat to a fire per unit weight? Thanks book!

Books become kind of a tutorial on the finer aspects of gameplay, although the really useful ones ought to be few and far between if they're added to preserve the "you get no help from us; figure it out yourself" vibe from the game. Maybe there are some informational books, and others that are more like fiction to pass the time, but have survival- or dystopian-apocalyptic themes to parallel the protagonist experience.

[Le_Survivant]

Maybe you could learn the craft recipes in books, that would be the blueprints of the game. Or maybe useful information that could help you, like the bunker place, some place to avoid or to go, some information about loot spawn , or the best way to kill a deer.